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‘Steve Bould is very focused on details’

The 49-year-old was named as Arsène Wenger’s assistant manager this summer following the retirement of the long-serving Pat Rice.

Vermaelen enjoyed his time with Rice and he says that Bould has already made a positive impact on the training pitch.

“Steve is really good to work with, especially for defenders as he has been a defender himself,” the Belgian told Arsenal Player.

“He knows what it is all about and gives us a lot of tips. He works a lot on the shape of the team and that is very important, so I am very happy he came to work with the first team.

“He is very focused on details. A lot of players, because we are getting older, we know how to play. But he looks at details and the shape of your body and to be honest I am learning a lot from him.”

Vermaelen is pleased with the squad's preparations, and says they know which areas must be improved on this season.

“We have to get the shape of the team right,” he said. “We have been working on it throughout pre-season and we are focusing on that.

“I think having your shape right is one of the most important things in football, whether you have the ball or don't have the ball. We are working really hard on that and Steve does the job really well.”Watch the full interview with Thomas on Arsenal Player now.

Copyright 2016 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source

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